This year's keynote presentation was by Dr. Larry J. Hornbeck from Texas Instruments. Dr. Hornbeck invented the DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) used in all DLP front projectors and DLP rear-projection displays and his presentation was titled "Stereoscopic and volumetric 3D displays based on DLP technology". More information about his presentation is available in the conference proceedings introduction.

[1,2] Pictured above are Larry Hornbeck during his presentation.

[3] Pictured above is a panorama of the SD&A conference room taken during the keynote presentation .

[20,21] Above left: Hiroyuki Hagura with a Nikon digital SLR fitted with an image-splitter attachment (aka: beam-splitter). Bernard Mendiburu with a pair of Sony digital still cameras synchronised by what is probably a LANC Shephard.

[22,23] Above left: Max Collon with the DSCC2000 digital stereoscopic camcorder. Above right: OK, this isn't a stereoscopic camera, but who could resist not using this funny photo of Enrique Criado.

The presentation of high-quality large-screen stereoscopic images and video at the conference is an extremely important part of the conference.

[24] This year we again had two sterepscopic rojection systems, as shown above, on the left using a single Christie projector with active polarisation modulator and on the right using two JVC projectors with passive polarisation. Many thanks to all the contributors (JVC, Christie Digital, DepthQ Stereoscopic, and Kerner Optical) who made this possible.

[25,26] The single projector system, shown above, consisted of a Christie active polarisation modulator coupled to a Christie Mirage S+4K projector which rear projected a 4:3 aspect ratio image. The Christie Mirage S+4K 3-chip DLP projector used has a native resolution of 1400×1050 pixels and is capable of frame-sequential stereo at up to 120Hz. The Christie polarization modulator was fitted to the front of the Christie projector to allow the high quality stereoscopic images from the Christie projector to be viewed passively using circularly polarized 3D glasses.

The setup of the two stereoscopic projection systems for the SD&A conference is a highly coordinated and smooth process due to the highly professional nature of all the providers involved. Below is a small insight into the setup process. Particular thanks go to: Wayne Bickley and Doug Boyer from Christie Digital, Rod Sterling and Rob Buddle from JVC; Chris Ward, Bob Mueller, and Dan Lawrence from DepthQ Stereoscopic, and Brad Nelson and David Mark from Kerner Optical.

Several prizes are offered at the conference to encourage and reward exemplary use of stereoscopy at the conference.

[33,34] Above left: Rob Engle from Sony Pictures Imageworks (USA) received a prize for the best use of stereoscopic projection tools during his technical presentation "Beowulf 3D: a case study." Despite the quizzical look, Rob did say he was very pleased to receive the prize and it was the first prize he has ever won! Above right: Eric Deren, Dzignlight Studios (USA) received the 3D Theatre Best of Show (Live Action) prize for his 3D short movie "3D Skydiving".

Two other prizes were awarded: to Enrique Criado from Enxebre Entertainment (Spain) received a prize for the best use of stereoscopic projection tools during his technical presentation "Original and creative stereoscopic film making," and to Digital Magic Entertainment (South Korea) received the 3D Theatre Best of Show (Computer Graphics) prize for their 3D short movie "Super Sonogong".

The full-day short course "Stereoscopic Display Application Issues" is held the day before the SD&A conference. The course is conducted by John Merritt and Andrew Woods and is a very good way for individuals to quickly learn about what is important in this field. Further information on the short course is available here.

John Merritt was invited to give the occasional address at the 2008 Human Vision and Electronic Imaging (HVEI) conference banquet. HVEI is co-located and held in parallel with SD&A. Here are a couple of shots from John's presentation "The Rising Tide of Realism in Virtual Environments".